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the steps of a fishless cycle in a nut shell:
add ammonia till about 4-6ppm first day
keep the ammonia at that level by testing daily
when nitrites show up, allow ammonia to fall to 2ppm
keep ammonia at 2ppm by adding ammonia daily. this requires a test before and after adding ammonia
*note too much ammonia at this stage WILL stall your cycle it happened to me
when 2ppm ammonia is being used completely in 24 hrs, and nitrites start going down, test for nitrates
when 2ppm ammonia is used daily, no nitrites are present, and nitrates are climbing, your cycle is done.

some people like to keep the cycle going a few days incase there was an error in the reading one day.

increasing the temp to 84, and adding alot of air will speed the process up.

KING OF THE GOLD BARBS RAWR!!!!I wonder if i plant one of my tiger barbs would the demon seed grow to a full tree?gotta love them bunnies! I.R.S.: We've got what it takes to take what you've got!

What test kit are you using? The liquid test kit by API is the best to use, although it's very hard to distinguish the difference between .25 ammonia and 0 ammonia, according to the color chart. If you think you are consistently coming up with .25 ammonia after a month and doing tests at random times, the ammonia is actually 0. If you are not using the API liquid test kit, then ignore what I just said.
Everyone is right about the ammonia needing to be zero. test your tap water for ammonia too.

What test kit are you using? The liquid test kit by API is the best to use, although it's very hard to distinguish the difference between .25 ammonia and 0 ammonia, according to the color chart. If you think you are consistently coming up with .25 ammonia after a month and doing tests at random times, the ammonia is actually 0. If you are not using the API liquid test kit, then ignore what I just said.
Everyone is right about the ammonia needing to be zero. test your tap water for ammonia too.